The following transcript has been edited for length and readability. Listen to the entire discussion here on The Broadband Bunch. The Broadband Bunch is sponsored by ETI Software.
Joe Coldebella:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Broadband Bunch. I’m Joe Coldebella. Recently we were at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While we were there and on behalf of the broadband industry, CableLabs created a 10G competition. The idea is, “Hey, let’s give folks an opportunity to showcase the power of 10G.” There were four categories. There was the Live Category, the Learn Category, the Play Category, and the Work Category. And folks from around the country submitted projects, about a year ago, and at the expo, they announced the winners. Joining me today is one of those winners, the winner of the Work Category, it’s Morgan Swanson. Morgan is the founder of the startup TractorCloud. Morgan, welcome to the Broadband Bunch.
Morgan Swanson:
Thanks, Joe. Thank you for having me here.
Joe Coldebella:
Hey, it’s a real pleasure to have you. Really interested to learn about TractorCloud and all the cool things that you’re doing. But before we dive into that, I would love it if you could give us a little background about yourself.
Morgan Swanson:
So yeah, I mean, I grew up in the Bay Area in California. Always had a really broad interest. Basically, anything I could get my hands on, I would want to take apart and figure out how it worked. So when I went to college, I studied computer engineering at Cal Poly and that’s how I got started working on the TractorCloud.
Joe Coldebella:
Okay. So a Bay Area kid working with farms and tractors. I would assume that’s not sort of a passion of yours. Is it one of those things where you’re just like, you’re a data guy and you saw a problem that needed solving?
Morgan Swanson:
It’s more like I’ve always been a rebellious kid, so if I see something that is an opportunity to get in somewhere I’m not supposed to, I’ll take advantage of that. So when I was at school, I heard about how farmers couldn’t really get access to their tractors, so I wanted to figure out how to do that for them.
Joe Coldebella:
Okay. All right. So we can touch on it a little bit. So it’s one of those things where they needed to get access and they weren’t able to and so you of hacked your way in. Is that kind of it?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, I mean, there’s a port on a tractor and there’s information on that port. So really, it was just a matter of figuring out how that information is being shared and then collecting that information. And then the challenge, the next challenge, which is what we’re working on now, is how can we give that information to the farmer to maximize their profitability?
Joe Coldebella:
Okay. Okay, I see that. And just in terms of the 10G challenge, how did you find out about it? And what was your reaction when you found out that you were one of the winners?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, so I found out by email. It was actually really interesting because I googled Startup Pitch Competition and this thing came up, and it was basically, there were two weeks left to apply. So I mean, at that point we had a lot of other stuff going on. So I just sat down, recorded a pitch video right then and there in my office, and I didn’t really think anything else of it until I got this email. And I completely forgot, so I wasn’t actually sure that I had won. I had to read it three times and then I was like, “Okay, cool.”
Joe Coldebella:
So, it’s one of those things where “Is this a scam? Is this real? Is this a scam?”
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, I thought it was a scam.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s great. So you submitted, and you won. And just so if we could just back out in terms of the project itself, so what was the problem that you were trying to solve? You obviously like to tinker around with things and you saw this problem where farmers want to get access to their tractors, but they can’t. So what exactly was the problem that you were trying to solve?
Morgan Swanson:
Well, when equipment breaks down, that’s bad. I can actually tell you a story about that one. So when I was at Cal Poly, when I was working with these tractors, there was one situation where there was a tractor that the mechanic had told me had a lot of problems, so he wanted me to go take a look and see what we could figure out about that tractor. So we had it out there and I basically plugged in my device, did some scans, and then I was going to go back and look at the data. And this was on Friday. So then I get a call at around 4:30 on Friday from the dairy manager who tells me that the tractor I was working on, isn’t working, and that’s the tractor that he has to feed his 100 cattle that he has at the dairy at Cal Poly. So that was my responsibility to make that happen, and I was an engineer.
That was the first moment that it clicked for me. The reality of the situation, from it being a technical exercise to, this reality, is the problem that I’m facing. Now, I’m the one facing it. So I’m like calling every equipment rental, and repair place in town, and they’re all like, “Yeah, sorry. We can come out on Tuesday.” So I’m sitting here thinking, “Am I going to have to go out there and hand-feed all these cows?” But yeah, we ended up finding this spare tractor from the ’80s that did the job, but that’s when I realized about equipment downtime and basically, these tractors are the critical infrastructure on the farm and they need to be protected like that.
Joe Coldebella:
And so that raises the question, you had this one fire drill for one tractor, but when these folks have multiple tractors go down, then the problem expands exponentially. So that’s one of the other things that you’re considering as well?
Morgan Swanson:
Well, yeah, that’s an interesting insight because most people when you tell them about more tractors, so if I had 200 tractors, they start thinking, “Well, actually, that wouldn’t make the problem quite so bad.” Remember, I had a spare tractor, that pretty much fixed the immediate problem. So a lot of people are thinking, “Well, we could start being a little smarter about how we manage the equipment. Maybe we have a spare tractor or rental tractor on hand in case, or if it’s a really big job, we’re going to do maintenance ahead of time.” There are things when you have a large number of tractors, that you can do to increase efficiency. But actually, when I went and talked to some of these folks at the larger farms, they’re not able to do those things that would make the problem better at a large scale, because they don’t have the visibility into what’s actually going on with each tractor in the field.
Joe Coldebella:
Wow. So it’s crazy. So in a lot of ways, TractorCloud gives the farmers the opportunity to troubleshoot. And so before a tractor breaks down and there’s all this penny, you can say, “Hey, listen, these are all scheduled for maintenance because this is what usually happens.” Is that what the goal is?
Morgan Swanson:
Well, okay, so this is mostly cable people, right? So I took a class on cable networks when I was at school, and there was all this infrastructure we had to manage, and build these little networks out. It was pretty cool, actually. But those networks, obviously, have issues too, where if something goes wrong or something breaks down, and then you’re not able to do what you need to do. And when I went to the Cable-Tec Expo, I talked to a few companies that had built really interesting technology to basically be able to pinpoint where those problems are faster and give the cable companies the information they need to restore service as soon as possible.
So similarly, when these tractors go down, they’re in remote locations, and you don’t have direct access to them. But what we’re trying to do is, build a system that allows farmers to see where the problems are happening, so that first of all, they can reduce the downtime, they can get the tractor back working faster. But also, once you get a bunch of this data coming in, you can start to be strategic about like, “Okay, what types of decisions am I going to make around my inventory? What parts do I need to have on hand? What type of tractors should I buy, based on the data I already have of the tractors I’m using today? What type of implement is going to give me the best fuel efficiency for this job?” All these questions could be answered if they had a central source of truth from the data that’s coming from their fleet.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s great. Those are super insights. And I think it also highlights the importance that your product can bring because downtime, especially when crops need to be brought to market or when specific things need to be done, it’s super critical for there to be as little time wasted, in terms of when you are getting crops or planting crops, or bringing it to market. So is that one of the insights that you were latched onto? It’s like, “Hey, I’ve got an opportunity to really make these farms more efficient”?
Morgan Swanson:
You really did your research, huh?
Joe Coldebella:
At the Broadband Bunch, we try to really break through the clutter. So, yeah.
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, no, that’s exactly right. Basically, when a tractor goes down, mother nature continues at her usual pace. So that means-
Joe Coldebella:
I love that. That’s perfect.
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, pretty much that means, you can’t stop the crop from growing or doing whatever a crop does. And so during certain periods in that crop’s life cycle, it’s very important that it gets what it needs at that exact moment. So each second that goes by where it’s not getting that, is going to be a reduction in the profitability of the farm. So not only is it like, “Yeah, you’re right, this equipment needs to be repaired. Let’s fix it faster. Let’s increase the efficiency of the equipment.” We’re also talking about the actual profitability of the thing being produced by the farm. In my example, those cows need to be fed on the… There’s research that shows if a cow gets fed at the exact correct time, it’s going to produce more milk. So what I did, actually reduced the amount of milk that was produced by the farm, and that’s why I’m still banned from Cal Poly Dairy.
Joe Coldebella:
Right. So your picture’s put up on the wall, so cows avoid you, is what you’re saying?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, yeah. The cows know not to trust me. But anyway, that’s the idea. There’s a profitability aspect as well as an efficiency aspect of this capital expense that you have on the farm.
Joe Coldebella:
It’s a two-part question. So when you were at the conference and you heard from the Broadband folks, what were some of the feedback you got from them? And then secondarily, have you had a chance to reach out to farmers and get their feedback? But in terms of the industry, what sort of feedback have you gotten from them?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah. So when I came to the Cable-Tec Expo, I wanted to just learn anything that could contribute to me achieving my mission, which is basically to give these guys the tools that they need to do great work and manage the equipment. So I wanted to know how that was going to happen. So a lot of what I learned was, how basically the connectivity that’s getting built out in these rural areas, is going to create a lot of growth, not just in the farming industry, but basically in any industry that is in that area. Giving rural connectivity, that’s going to allow the businesses in that area to use this type of technology, data, technology, IT infrastructure, using IoT devices. So all of these things are being enabled by the increase in connectivity to rural areas. So we’re part of that. And so that was really interesting to see the people making that happen at the expo.
Joe Coldebella:
Well, and the remarkable thing about that point that you’re making, is that you hear that there are so many communities that are unserved or underserved and that the folks in the rural communities are sort of an afterthought, but, bringing them high-speed connectivity, it’s the exact opposite. They needed actually more than anybody, just because of the digital economy that they could bring in terms of just making things more efficient.
Morgan Swanson:
Well, yeah, I think it was one of the guys from Netscape who said that software is eating the world. And these rural areas present an amazing opportunity for us to bring software to a place that hasn’t really been served in the past because it was harder. If you think about the average investment banker today and the number of tools that they have to be able to achieve their goals in their job, it’s huge. They’ve got huge servers, and they’ve got tons of stuff that they can do to basically augment their effectiveness as an investment banker.
And if you don’t know this, there are tons that you can read a lot about this. This has been happening in their industry for 30, 40 years, but in rural areas, there hasn’t been the infrastructure to support that type of transformation. So people are still relying on pen and paper, they’re relying on spreadsheets and stuff that doesn’t require an internet connection. And so that’s preventing them from being the best people that they can be in their job. So that’s an opportunity for people to go in and to solve their problems, using more modern software and using the internet.
Joe Coldebella:
No, that’s great. I love that thought. So where are you in this process? Is it one of those things where you’re going to start a pilot program, are you just trying to line up different farms, or where are we now in terms of the process?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, yeah. So I mean, we have a strong signal from the market, that this type of product is needed. We’ve talked to large-scale farms, medium-size farms, agronomists, and people in the industry. A lot of people see the value in what we’re building, so the question for us is right now, what we need to figure out is how can we with the budget that we have, provide some value to a small set of who we eventually want to serve? It’s about focusing right now and figuring out what is the smallest problem that we can solve, that’s going to bring some value to some set of customers.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s awesome. And you said, “We”, so I take it that you’re not the only diabolical scientist behind the glass door. Do you have a team that you work with?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, there’s a team. I definitely couldn’t do this on my own, just because I have a certain bias toward the way that I see things. And I have a lot of people on my team that really complement that well. So yeah, so Roxanne, she helps with the product development, and met her at Cal Poly. She’s worked at Apple and has a lot of experience with building software, but she also is great at planning and thinking through what are the steps we need to do to bring this to market.
So she’s great at that. And then we also have Kyle, who I met at Cal Poly too. He’s an electrical engineer and he’s really great at just breaking down complex problems. Like when we started out, we are like, “Okay, this is the data that we need to collect from these tractors, in order to provide value.” And he breaks that down all the way into, “What’s the hardware that we need? What is the software that needs to run? How is that data going to get to the farm?” And he’s built out basically that entire system. So he’s great at breaking down those complex problems.
And then also, have Takumi who I met at Cal Poly also, and he actually has some experience building software in other industries already. So he’s a designer and his superpower is this ability to see through the core workflow that they’re trying to get done and make the software so that it almost doesn’t even feel like they’re using software, they’re just doing their job. You know that feeling when you get in your car, that you’ve driven for a while and it’s like the car’s not even there, you’re just getting to where you need to go?
Joe Coldebella:
Yeah, that’s definitely-
Morgan Swanson:
And if you step into someone else’s car, it’s a whole different thing. You’re like… Sorry, what were you saying?
Joe Coldebella:
No, I definitely know that feeling exactly, where all of a sudden you’re like, “How did I get here?” Kind of thing.
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, so that’s a big part of what we want to do with TractorCloud is, we recognize that people, especially farmers, don’t use computers because they think they’re like… They’re not nerds, they’re not on the computer to play around. They have farming to do and the computer, if it doesn’t let them help them farm, then it’s not valuable. So we’re trying to build software that almost doesn’t feel like they’re using the computer, they’re just getting their work done.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s an awesome thought. And it sounds like you’ve got a really great team you’re working with. It sounds really exciting. So you’re creating this great team and you’re allowing folks to get their work done. Is there a possibility that this technology can go beyond tractors, in the sense that there are other uses in the rural area, perhaps livestock, in terms of tracking livestock? Is that something you’ve considered?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, so that’s interesting. So where do we go, once we’ve solved the first problem we’ve set out to solve, we have this equipment that’s up more often. They’re reducing their failures in the field, so they’re more efficient, they’re out there, they’re making strategic improvements on their company so that in the long run, they’re actually becoming more and more profitable every year with regard to their equipment management. And so then where do we go once we’ve built that system? Well, there are a few things that the building will allow us to do. At that point, we’d have built an excellent data transfer and data interface between the tractor and the cloud.
So we could start thinking, “Well, what other types of data, coming from that tractor, would be useful to other parts of the farm?” So we’re talking about equipment management here, but there’s also this notion of being able to increase yields. And so we have access to other data coming from the equipment, in terms of what’s the seeding? What’s fertilizer applied? If we had water sensors? So pulling all that data together to say, “What other parts of the farm’s P&L can we optimize or improve?” And thereby also improving the person, who’s responsible for that area, improving their ability to do their job as well.
So there are other people on the farm with different problems, that we could solve using the same type of strategy. And then once we get that, once we could build multiple things for different parts of the farm, this type of situation of people, right now they’re being very reactive, they’re getting bombarded with problems and they don’t have this high-level perspective of how they can strategically improve. That problem, I think, is pretty prevalent in today’s society, just in general with people that I talk to. And so I wonder how much of this type of strategy that we’ve built, is applicable to other industries?
Joe Coldebella:
It’s an awesome answer. It is really, I guess, and I think something that I harp on a lot is, it’s an opportunity to use data for good, in terms of just taking all of the information provided, to get the best possible outcome. Is that what you’re trying to say?
Morgan Swanson:
Well, I’m not even… See, what’s the best outcome? Who decides what’s the best outcome?
Joe Coldebella:
I mean, yeah, Morgan, that’s a big, big question. But I guess the idea is in pursuit of efficiency, but I think your answer was very philosophical, which is also a really interesting question as well, because as you were saying, the software is eating the world, and is that a good thing or a bad thing, or is it one of the things, “It depends”? I would love to get your thought on the broader question, in terms of just data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. I guess, what’s your take on that? Is it one of those things where is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Or like I said before, it depends?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, so definitely, obviously it depends. I think one thing that’s beautiful about this country, is that everyone has the freedom to try something that they think is going to make the world a better place. You don’t really have this strong… I guess, there’s a mutual respect that we’re all trying to improve the world and the way that we think is going to make a difference. And so part of that has to do with, when it comes to data or AI, or any of these types of technologies, from the ground up, when you build something like this, you have to start thinking about how it’s going to… What is your goal? Is your goal to use this data to somehow gain control over people? Or you are using this data to give people more control over their own lives?
And so I’ve seen companies go both ways and I’ve seen the effects of that in the long run. When you get to be a large-scale company and you’ve built it around controlling other people, you start to have a lot of responsibility. And it starts to be where some of these companies have large amounts of control over how that data is shared and how it’s exchanged between people. And there are a lot of unintended consequences that can happen when that centralization takes place. So when I think about what I want my software to be able to do… I guess I want the people using the software to use it for what they think will make the world a better place. And the data is providing them with the information they need to be their best selves.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s awesome. Because I totally agree. I think that all this technology that we use, should ultimately help the end user because your point is to get the best possible outcome. So really love those points. So, Morgan, this has been a great visit and as we wind down, we love to ask our guests two questions. And the first question is our back-to-the-future question. And so if I were to give you the keys to the DeLorean and you were to go back in time, obviously you’re not going to go back in time as much as some of our other guests, but if you were to go back in time when you started this project and whisper something in your ear to maybe give you a little bit of a, I don’t know, a nudge in a different direction that would’ve made your outcome a little bit easier, what would you tell yourself?
Morgan Swanson:
Well, it’s funny because I know this is an interesting question, I don’t know. And back to the future, it seems like a lot of what they tried to do, going back in the future and stuff, had a lot of unintended consequences. And I’m just so thankful for where I am today and all of the people that I’ve met, all of the experiences that I’ve had, all the mistakes and problems that have bumps in the road, all of that, I’m really grateful for having the opportunity to go through that and be where I am today. So I don’t know if there’s anything I would say… I wouldn’t want to change the outcome, I guess.
Joe Coldebella:
I know. I love that answer. That’s one of the reasons why we asked the question to everybody because everyone has a different answer. Some of the answers are really deep and expansive. One guy was like, “If I told myself, I probably wouldn’t listen anyway.” So it’s one of those things where it’s just a question to get different answers. So I love it. But if I could ask you the converse, the crystal ball question, I was wondering if you could give us, where do you think the technology is going to be? And you can talk about TractorCloud or a larger, or bigger picture. Where do you see the technology in three to five years? Is it one of those things where you hope that cloud technology becomes much more pervasive in rural communities? Whatever you want to do. What are some of your thoughts?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, okay. So I guess what I’m seeing right now in the space that I’m working in, ag technology, ag software, there’s a lot. There are a lot of different choices out there for someone, but a lot of this software is not really focused. So as a farmer, you’ve got to think, “Okay, I got all this software out here that says it’s going to digitally transform my company, and it’s going to make me so much better, and all this stuff.” But I think that farmers need to see the value. From the very beginning, they need to see the value. What is this going to do for me that’s going to actually help? What’s the focus of what this is going to do?
So I think in the future with ag tech and ag software in general and we’re already starting to see this, companies that can really focus and are able to, I guess, be more… Because it’s hard because, in tech, there’s like this emphasis on having this grand vision and having this big master plan of how you’re going to change the world. And then in agriculture, you almost have the opposite, where the farms that are successful, they actually look down and they actually figure out, they get their feet in the dirt, right?
They’re out there, they’re seeing what’s going on, they’re actually engaged with the real world, right there out in the field. So I think there’s this thing whereas an ag-tech company, you have to put a foot in each area. So this is a long-winded way of saying I think in the future with ag tech, there’s going to be some consolidation at the companies that can do that well. I think there’s going to be fewer players that have really figured out how to master that task of standing one foot in tech and long-term vision, and then one foot in, really staying engaged with the farmers, staying engaged out there and seeing the value. So I think there’s going to be fewer companies that have really figured that out.
Joe Coldebella:
No, that’s great. And I love how it’s all about value. And that’s one of the things that we try to do on the Broadband Bunch, is to share the value. Because a lot of communities right now in the US, are sort of on the fence about whether or not they need to make connectivity a priority in their communities. And I think that your company and what you’ve shared with us today, just shows that it’s incredibly important for these companies, these farms, these communities, to really understand that connectivity is absolutely incredibly important, as we move forward in a digital world. So, Morgan, it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you today. If someone wanted to learn more about you or your company, where’s someplace they can go?
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, so mean, we’re still pretty good. So I mean, I like talking to people, so if anyone wants to learn more, you can reach out to me via email, or you can go to my website, which basically just has my email on it, which is TractorCloud.io and get in touch, I’d be happy to talk to you.
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. Morgan, thank you so much for joining us today. Would love it if maybe a year down the line, we reconnect and just see where you are on this journey because it’s a really exciting one. And thanks so much for joining us.
Morgan Swanson:
Yeah, thank you very much for having me again. It was fun.
Joe Coldebella:
All right, that’s going to wrap up this episode of The Broadband Bunch. Until next time, we’ll see you guys later.
